A great Aussie Christmas carol

On Thursday night, i was at a local Christmas carols in the park... and one of the songs they sang was an aussie Christmas carol, it is a bit of a challenge when you listen to the words.... The words are below...

Good old wally king looked out
upon his crop of barley
Bless my soul, blow me down
that looks to me like Charlie
Haven't seen him 'round these parts
many a long year
reckon i might offer him a
Glass of Christmas Cheer.

Agnes put the kettle on
as quick as you are able
Let us make another place
For him at the table
He looks a little worse for wear
His clothes are old and baggy
It's along and weary road
For an honest swaggy*

Mates they've been in years before
Now the two were older
And so we welcomed Charlie in
A hand upon his shoulder
Gladly those three feasted there
And in the warmth of sharing
Christmas season brought again
A time of peace and caring

This Song shows what Christ was all about.... He was about loving and accepting people as a part of His family... Sharing/giving of Himself to see us come to Him and live with Him...

I pray all of you had a ripper Christmas, full boar ripper Christmas, dead set ripper Christmas and a Snappy New Year... (line from the Aussie we wish you a ripper Christmas),

*(for those who don't know, a swaggy is a person who would go from town to town looking for work, and often sleeping rough...)

Adelaide

God is working in Adelaide. Praise the Lord...
Today i met a guy who lives in Adelaide, and he runs a house church, his place is open for people to come in between something like 8am and 10pm. He regularly has people sleeping on his floor, shares his food with people that are around when it is a meal time. And 2 or 3 times a day he will read his bible with who ever is around and then talk with them about what was read....
I also met some other people today that have a heart for people, to see them saved... and a focus on people who are poor, homeless, or have addictions...
And none of these people are Salvos.... God has raised them up to be doing what they are doing...
They are one part of the Church in Adelaide, and we at Gen1 are another part... These people were excited to hear about Gen1 and what we are doing, just as i was excited to hear what they are doing....
I truely believe that God is bringing us together.... all with common goals.
So i pray that God will continue to unite us with the different people/groups that are doing things around Adelaide already, and may we work along side them, encouraging and helping them, and reaching out ourselves....
Cause the calling of God is to preach the Good News to everyone, William Booth said for us to Save the world for Christ.... Neither of these things says to grow the Salvation Army, like we are the only place people can meet God.... How ever it would be cool for the Salvation Army to grow like that.... However if people are getting saved and are growing in their relationship with Christ, in Sanctification, who cares whether they come to Gen1, to West Care, St Lukes, Sturt St, or some another house church.... It is all for the Glory of God.... and God is in all these places... We should Praise God, when other groups see people saved, and not be jealous, or think it is unfair, cause we did a lot of work with that person... Cause we are told that one person will sow and another will reap.... So when we hear reports of people coming to know God, lets join in Praise and when we hear of people growing in their relationship with Christ, lets join in praising the Lord... Cause He alone is worthy of praise.
So bring on the unity, that we would all work together to obey Christ in His command of the Great Commission.

John 6:26

Today i was reading John 6 and vs 26 jumped out... now the context of this verse is that Jesus had just fed the 5000, and gone across to the other side of the lake... and people from the crowd went looking for Jesus... and this is Jesus' response when they found Him... vs 26 "truely I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves"
How often do we look for/to Christ for what He has/can do for us.... Instead of looking for Him for who He is....
I know there are times that i look for Christ because of what He has done, or can do for me... And i have to repent of this.... Cause it is being selfish, just looking at myself, looking out for "my best interest".
This was a reminded that we are to look for Christ because of who He is... The Son of God, The Messaiah.... Christ is the one to be praised, the one that is worthy of praise... Our relationship with Him should be focused on Him not on ourselves and what we can get out of it...
Jesus came to show us a better way, He knows what is best for us... He wants that deep fullon relationship with us...

The Bee movie

I went and saw the bee movie with work lately... It was a fun movie i enjoyed it...
However the movie was also a great reminder that we need each other, and need to work together and do the things that we were created to do...
You see in the movie the bees stopped making honey cause they had enough... and after a while everything started to die, flowers, fruit trees, veggies, which then effected everyone else...
And it is true, we have all been created for a purpose... God has given us all different gifts, and when we all work together, things run, God is glorified not us, cause we only do a small part for God. However when we don't work where God wants us, using the gifts He has given us, we find ourselves bumping into people more, and more friction, cause we are focusing on ourselves and our work being taken advantage of and others getting glory and not us... God gets pushed out, the big picture of everyone working together, like God created us to do, has been pushed out and replaced with a narrow view and only seeing a tiny part of the big picture.
One of my mates suggested in a blog to go out side at night and stare gaze, and realise how small you are in God's creation.... (her suggestion was to do with over coming excessmas during this christmas), but it is a great idea inlight of this blog as well... The universe is huge, and the way God created it is awesome, the way everything is interlocked, relying on something else to survive.
As the Church we are interlocked as well, the things that we do effect other parts of the Church...
How is your life effecting the Church...

Lux

Loving people.

One of my mates in the War College, wrote a blog about how she is learning to love and how love hurts at times... which as i read, my mind was going to a friend of mine that i saw tonight...
i was at a Christmas Carols in the Square, down the road from my place, and i saw one of my friends... i haven't seen him since the beginning of the year... Now each time i see this friend he is drunk (sometimes more than others), he asks me for money... or/and gets a little sleezy, trying to crack on to me, get me to go with him... So each time i see him, i have to remind him that we are nothing more than friends and will never be anything more than that.... Even though i have to do that, I love him... I love the fact that i saw him... that he remembered me (a bit anyway). I love him because he is created in the image of God, and i see this little boy just searching for love... his eyes sparkle with the hope of love... My heart breaks for him cause the only way he knows what love is, is by sex...
However my heart also rejoices, cause there has been growth in him... cause he used to be worse than he is now.

Lux

G'day

a couple of weeks back, i was watching Freedom Writers again.... I love this movie.... It is a good reminder for us not to judge people by their reputation.... And how loving and accepting people, they have an opportunity and a reason to change, and do change when they know that someone loves and cares for them unconditionally.
You see God see each person, He sees their hurts, He knows what they have been through, and why they act as they do... And He loves them... His heart breaks when He sees them acting in a way that hurts themselves and others.... He wants them to know that He loves them... He wants them to experience His love.... We are called to love all with the love of Christ.... and to express this love to them not just love them from a distance, but to go and get along side and love them, getting our "hands dirty".
Christ didn't just love us from a distance, He came and lived amoung us... we are to do the same...

desire and fear.

Just a quick thought...

Why is it that the thing we often desire..... we also fear???

I have been finding that some of the things that i desire to do, to recieve, i also fear.... i long for some things however fear can hold me back from it at times.... Whether it is the fear of the unknown, or fear of failure, or the fear of man.... Or whether it is from past hurts or experiences that effect how i react... People around me may or may not notice it.... however it is there... And it fully annoys me....
Now i know that God has not given us a spirit of fear but of power, love and sound mind... And the bible also says, why should we fear man, what can man do to us... And God promises that He'll be with us, and guide us, and that His plans are perfect....
So why do i give into fear.... or be really tempted to give in to it....
I don't really know... I just pray that i will be more focused on Christ.... cause when our eyes are on Christ all else fades away.... Just like Peter didn't sink til he took his eyes of Jesus....
I also know that a reason why this is so ... is cause the enemy wants us to be paralised, so that we are not as effective as what we can be for Christ. Which Sux... I hate him and his underhanded schemes..... Cause there are so many that fall to his traps...
I pray that our eyes will be open that we will see the traps the enemy sets for what they really are.....

the fight... on the Adelaide front.

Well today was another day off for me, because of the hot weather.
During the day i felt really tired and flat... spending a lot of the day relaxing and sleeping and having sometime with God....
I was reflecting on what one of my friends said when we were on our way back from Melbourne ... He said that in Melbourne he could fully feel a spirit of oppression, which he doesn't feel in Adelaide...
This got me thinking & praying about why we don't feel/sense/see the problems or the fight in Adelaide, like my friend did in Melbourne.
One reason is simply there is more people in Melbourne, which makes the problems bigger.
However as i was thinking/praying about it, I had a sense that the main reason is cause the enemy has done a good job in hiding the problems, putting blinders not only over the eyes of the world, but also the church. Cause there is problems and a fight going on in Adelaide, it just isn't visiable,unless we are looking for it. We can also be blind to the problems, hurts in our life that we need to deal with, that we need to hand over to God and recieve His healing from it.
Also there also seems to be like a spirit of sleepyness/drowsyness/lazyness over Adelaide, there is so many that are tired or just want to sleep, or have awesome ideas, but can't be bothered doing them, and saying "i'm to lazy to do it".
I think t ese things are linked, the sleepyness and lazyness are part of the reason we are blind to the problems and fight in Adelaide. I say we, cause i find i battle with this as well.
So i pray that God will keep my spirit aware of this fight, and through Christ my eyes will see more and more of the fight around me, and the hurts in me that need healing. So that i will become the person that God created me to be.

I pray that your eyes/spirit through Christ will be aware of tthe fight around you, that you'll grow fully into the person He created you to be.

Keep you're eyes open focused on Christ, and fight the battle raging around you.

awesome weekend

Well this pass weekend i was in Melbourne for the Connections Conference....
Here are some highs from the weekend..

1 The overnight drive to Melbourne in a van with two others, and not getting a speeding ticket... PTL....
2 The Friday night Worship.... The Spirit was there and working... People worshipping in spirit, and people being saved...
3. The March down the street on Saturday.
4. Hanging out with Zion at the outdoor rally.
5. Nazarite Vow playing at the rally
6. Some Challenging speeches and sermons by Danielle Strickland, Jim Naggs, and Brendon Nottle. (on Friday, Sat and Sunday)
7. Meeting and talking to someone who is moving back to Adelaide in the coming year, and is thinking about joining Gen1.
8. Getting stuck in a lift with 7 other people.... Varying in age from teenagers to over 50... we had the max amount of people in the lift... there was so much joking around and laughing though.... we had fun... (we were suppose to be going on a tour of the training college)...

If you want to know more... just ask....

Blessings

soup run

Tonight at the soup run was great... i got to say hi to a number of people that i have met before, 2 of which i haven't seen since i left for Vancouver. I got to catch up with them. One who is physically disabled has moved back to Melbourne and is just over for a Holiday. The other is an Aboriginal woman, who had just got back from Canberra... She was sharing her story there... This lady came back to my place, to chat some more, and want me to pray with her... Which was cool...
Also there was an answer to pray from last week... one of the guys that i know from the soup run, had a bad week not last week but the week before, and last monday i told him i would pray that he had a better week and he did.... It was only a simple pray, but God still listened. He cares about His kids... and answers us.
So i praise God for speaking through me tonight and touching people lives through me.
Praise the Lord, He is working and moving in Adelaide.

Keep fighting the fight with Christ, even when you don't see the results, cause Christ is doing stuff, it may take a while for us to see the results with our human eyes, Christ works from the inside out... So be encouraged... Continue in the fight, faithfully fighting.

Summer heat.

Well it is summer now in Australia..... and in Adelaide we have nearly had our first fully week of temptures above 32 degrees.... Today it got up to 34 degrees celious and at the moment it is 31 degrees and it is nearly 6pm...... and it is going to stay above 32 until after tuesday....
This means a few things... 1. I may loose a couple of days of work (i was already cancelled today). 2. My place will get hot inside... therefore not having any relief from the heat... It is usually hot inside after the 3rd or 4th day of consective days of hot weather...
By the way for those that don't know Adelaide, this is a dry heat.... and we can often have dust storms, from northly winds that come off the desert that is easily a couple of hundred of Kms away....
I don't what it is with hot weather.... but my body doesn't want to do anything, except hid away inside somewhere where it is cool.... the beach is appealing... but not fun by oneself....
It is on these days where i have to be more disciplined, to spend time one on one with God. And sometimes it seems to hard.... Then i am reminded that i am with God where ever i am, and He loves to spend time with me.... And i love it as well, i just have to get over that first part of making my body to get behind my spirit, and not allow my body to control my life.... This body behind spirit thing can be hard at times, especially when we are starting to enforce it... however the rewards are great and awesome.... It brings us closer into a deeper relationship with Christ. I am longing to come into deeper and deeper relationship with Christ, each day, and to know Him more and more each day. That i will experience Christ love, freedom, grace and power more and more every day...... That people will see Christ in me when they meet me, that i would be His faithful vessel....
Anyway i'm going, writing this has stirred me up to spend some time with Christ.

May God reveal Himself to you more and more.

Lux.

History makers

History makers by delirous

Is it true today that when people pray
Cloudless skies will break; Kings and Queens will shake
Yes it's true and I believe it,
I'm living for you

Is it true today, that when people pray
We'll see dead men rise and the blind set free
Yes, it's true and I believe it
I'm living for you

I'm gonna be a History Maker in this land
I'm gonna be a speaker of truth to all mankind
I'm gonna stand, I'm gonna run
Into your arms, into your arms again
Into your arms, into your arms again

Is it true today that when people stand
With the fire of God and the truth in hand
We'll see miracles, we'll see angels sing
We'll see broken hearts making history
Yes it's true and I believe it
I'm living for you

On Sunday, I went to Marion Corps, where I was priledged to see on of my friends make a covenant with God, in becoming a Senior Soldier in The Salvation Army. We sang the song that's above, cause she wanted it as a part of her testimony. My friend really wants to be a history maker, and knows thar the only real way of making history is through Christ... That when God's people pray, and allow God to use them as answers to their own prays, people will be changed, people will be healed, we will see miracles, and more. Jesus said we will do greater things than Himself, because of the Holy Spirit being with us.
Lord stir us to pray...to pray earnestly and in the Spirit and truth.... And be willing for You to use us

In the midst of the fight

The last few weeks i have been realising that i am difinately in the front lines of the Spiritual fight...
I have friends that used to follow Christ who have been wounded, by other or the enemy, and are now really struggling, a couple even saying that they don't know if God is really there... that is how badly wounded they have been... Also in the city a couple of weeks ago, there was a shooting about 10-15 min walk from my place, and with in that same week, in the same area, a baby was found dead in a bin of the toliets of a TAFE building... Then this past week i was walking down the street, and one of my aboriginal friends stopped me and said hi, and out of the blue, he said that there had been 14 murders/killings/deaths at Whitmore square over the years (this square is no more than 100metres from my place), that same day i was talking to someone that lives across the road of the day centre (a place where homeless people can come and hang out during the day) that is just near whitmore square and he was saying that drug dealers sit out side that place to sell drugs, and nothing is done about it, he also told me of some other stuff that happens close by there.
So i am trying to be there for my friends mentioned above, and just love and accept and praying for them.
Pray is the best... when i don't know what i am doing, suppose to do or say i just pray...
the last few days i have been praying heaps for my friends.... Praying that they won't believe the lies the enemy feeds them, praying for healing, and deliverance....
The last couple of days i haven't had very much sleep at all. And it is only through Christ that i am still able to go... Christ is the one that teaches me how to fight, He is the one that leads, He is the one that give the orders. Christ is the one that sustains me, and holds me so that i won't fall. So what else can i do, besides be obedient to His commands and follow His example.
I will continue to pray and lean on Christ alone... cause with out Him i am able to do nothing.

warfare

I was at a meeting last night... and they were talking about warfare... that we are in war, and we have to fight....
They were saying that we can fight in a physical and spiritual way...
the physical which they descibed was helping on the soup run, helping with the coffee mornings, and different ways in the community services that the corps provide...
All they said about spiritual warfare, is that to be strong we have to read our bible and pray...
We were told that we are to Go.... in the Great commission Jesus told us to Go and make disciples baptising in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit...
next we were told the church didn't do that, and that was the reason why we have warfare, why we have to fight... But i don't really agree with this.... Cause we don't fight against flesh and blood, but our fight is a spiritual one... satan is always attacking in different ways, (or trying to at least), warfare is going on when we follow Jesus, until He returns... However we have the Victory with Christ...

Jesus said that they will know that we are His disciples by the way we love each other (John 13:34-36). And also in Mark 16:17-19:

17And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; 18they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well."

that to me sounds like warfare..... However a lot of the church in the western world don't live up to this.... We need to step it up... to step out in Faith, and live this out... Imagine the impact on this world if we all lived in such a way that theses signs accompanied us...

band of brothers

I have been watching band of brothers and in the 3rd part there is a scene where a private who has frozen in the heat of the battle earlier is talking to an officer, and the officer said something like:


The sooner you accept that you are already dead, than the sooner you'll able to function like a real/true soldier


Now a real soldier.... a real soldier doesn't freeze in the battle, a real soldier doesn't turn and run away,

A real soldier follows the orders of his commander, a real soldier fights even tho he is scared to death, a real soldier looks out for his comrades, a real soldier pulls their injured to safety (even when there are bullets flying around), helping them, a real soldier relies on his comrades, a real soldier does what is need to complete the orders of the commander.



Does this sound familiar.... We are called to be Soldiers in Jesus' army. He is the commander, we are to obey His orders only. Some times those orders are things that we think that we are unable to do, and scare the crap out of us, however Christ will help us. We are also called to look out for each other, to encourage, correct (in love), help those that are weaker... we are told that we need each other, in fact we are to confess to each other to be healed. God has created us to live in community, we need each other...



We are also called to be dead to this world, in that we are not to let this world around us to squeeze us into their box, or pull us down to it's level. This means that we are to live in a way that we don't care what the world thinks, it is only what God thinks that is important... We live for Him and Him alone. Our focus is to be one Christ..... In focusing on Christ, all of this world (as the song says) will grow strangely dim. Which will allow us to follow the orders that we are given...
Lets seek after Christ, to have a complete focus on Him, so that we will be so focused that nothing will distract us from following the instruction/orders that Christ give us.

cell

Romans 12:2 (NIV)
Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world , but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is - His good, pleasing and perfect will.


In Cell tonight we looked at this verse and talked about how we all need to be transformed to be more like Christ... Whether we see/know where we need to change, or not. This transformation is not anything that we can do it is only God that can do it in us... however we have to allow Him to do it...
Reading from the Message it says
"Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out. Readilly recognize what he wants from you and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to it's level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you."
That is a Challenge... how often do we (i know i do at times), go through the daily activities, work, eat, sleep, sport, ect... fitting in with the way the world does things with out even thinking... we have been trained to live and act in certain ways in which corespond with the way the world does things... These need to be broken... we need to see things from God's view, we need to Fix our eyes on Christ, and let Him work in us, and bring the change from the inside... For that is the only way there is a lasting change.

Lord bring on change that will last, change from the inside..

peace...
Lux

Anti -poverty

On thursday I went to an Ecumenical prayer & reflection meeting for anti poverty.
it was one of the most structured prayer & reflection Meetings i have be to. It was good, tho.
I went cause one Of the guys from my cell was Sharing his 'story. from being on the street & now havin a place to stay and i wanted to Support him, he was really nervous. so it was cool to be there for him.

their was a NuMber of other cool things, that happened..
One of these was a prayer of confession, Which i'd Like to share -
Many things paralyse us, O God. There is dispar & fear, endless struggles for enough resources, Confusion & too many discussions Cause we'd rather stand still than make a mistake.
We often spend our energy Struggling over small things while the world groans in pain & the cries of the people are more than we can bear.
We Carry a heavy burden of guilt while you are waiting to forgive us & free US to lightness of heart &soul. the way seems hard & we are often weary, O God.
We come to youin humble faith, in weakness, smallness of hope, in vulnerable faith, we come before you, O God, and wait your renewing Spirit

praising God

Tonight I have just been singing the song Shout to the Lord by Darlene Zschech (the words are below). It is sort of an older song.... however as i was singing it i was just fully in God's prensence. The song is full of so much truth for me.... I want to praise Jesus all of my days, He is my comfort, shelter, tower, refuge and Strength.. I want every part of me to just praise God... Every breath praising God.... And when i see God's handiwork... whether it is nature, or the way He has worked in people's lives, i just want to praise and love Him more.
God has so many promises for me... and you.... there are a number in the Bible.... Check them out.... There are also promises that He gives us as the Church and as individuals that aren't in the Bible.... Ask God what His promises are for you... (I know some that He has given me, and they are awesome.... although seem a little scary..when i try doing with out Him)


My Jesus My Saviour
Lord there is none like you
All of my days I want to praise
The wonder of your mighty love.

My comfort and my shelter
Tower refuge and strength
Let every breath, All that i am
Never cease to worship You

Shout to the Lord all the earth
Let us sing. Power and majesty praise to the King
Mountian bow down and the seas will roar
At the sound of Your Name
I sing for joy at the works of Your hand
forever i love you for ever I stand
nothing compares to the promise i have in You.

love for the hurting

A quote from a friend..."I know that being part of the church, means giving and not just receiving.... but i just don't have anything to give".
Now this person wasn't taking about money, or time. The person was talking more about love. How often do we expect people that are hurt, angry, or who are down trodden to act as "christians" and love others when they have been beaten down and so much taken from them emotionally, mentally, even physically, that they don't have anything left to give. So how are they supposed to give.... How are they meant to get back to a place where they are able to give?
This is only through them receiving love.... love from God ultimately,and healing from God..... however we have a place to play in it God needs/wants us to love them beyond measure.... cause that is how he loves them.

The body of Christ.

Yesterday, i went to church, it was one of the local churches, only about 5 min walk away from my place. It was awesome... A lot of people were away on a church camp, so majority of the congeration was 50 plus and the service was short. However it was still good, God was still there... one guy shared how God had restored his hearing the week before, and there were 2 prophetic words given to 2 specific people.
Afterwards i got introduced to some people my own age, and they invited me for coffee. We shared what we did and the ministries that God has called us to. They then invited me to come to their cell, any time, when i needed my "batteries charged", or wanting to be refreshed.
It was really encouraging to meet some new people in the body of Christ, and learn more to encourage other parts of the body, and allow the other parts of the body to encourage me.

I plan on going back to that church, and build on the relationships that i have just made, and build the network of the body up around Adelaide.
Hopefully this blog made sense to you.
Blessings.
Lux

Jesus weeps

I was sitting at home tonight, and this guy walked pass my house.... However i heard him from about 100 metres coming up the road... over music....
This guys was yelling and cursing at the top of his voice, which continued as he went pass. As i was hearing him coming up the street and pass my place. i had a huge sense of sadness and compassion for him come over me... Also this guy was yelling out, being abusive from his hurt and his pain and Jesus knows his hurts and pains. Jesus knows all the little details of this guys heart/life and loves him, and weeps over him, Jesus longs for this guy to come to Him and hand over his hurts and pain, Jesus wants to take it from him and show him love and give him freedom.
Jesus longs to do this for all of us...
Jesus still weeps for Adelaide. There is so many people in Adelaide are hurt and in pain, however you just don't see it as much as in some other places. A lot of people here pretend they are ok, that they haven't been hurt. They bury the hurt, ignore it, until they become accustomed to it, and don't recognise it as hurt anymore, just a part of them. They don't see that this hurt has changed them. He knows what their full potential is, and that they aren't how He created them to be.
I know, cause i have done this with my hurts before, Jesus is slowly healing me of those hurts, and the behaviours that come from those hurts. Jesus has plans for my life, bigger than what i can imagine, and i say bring it on, bring on the healing. I want to be who He has made me to be.
I want to see the people of Adelaide living with Jesus, healed and set free, Lord please do it....

do not lose heart

I was doing my daily reading and reading from Luke 18, and the first thing that i read was
"Then Jesus told them a parable about their need to pray always and not to lose heart".
Which was awesome to read.... pray and don't lose heart. Even when you don't see the results, or see the growth, continue to pray, continue to be faithful. Don't be discouraged, but persistant... God hears your prayers. As i read the beginning of that chapter, i was reminded of when Daniel prayed and fasted consistantly for 24 days, before an angel appeared with a message for him.... It wasn't because God wasn't listening to Daniel, but that there was resistance in the spiritual realm which delayed the angel. Which is a good reminded that God does hear us, that sometimes there is just a resistance in the spiritual realm, that delays the response. Also sometimes the answer comes in a different way than what we were expecting it, so we don't reckonise it.
This was a great reminded for me, cause sometimes here at Gen1, i can start to feel discouraged, cause i haven't seen growth in our ministry. However, God reminds me that we are ploughing the ground and seeds are being planted. That we may not see it until the seedling breaks through the ground, then we will be able to see the growth.... until then the growth is hidden, but it is still there.
Lord grant us patience, and a faithful spirit


Lux

fire

The last couple of months I have had a number of opportunities to sit around a fire, and reflecting back on those times, I realized 2 things about fire.
1. It is captivating
There is something about fire that captivates people. People can sit for hours looking and staring at a fire. Even people that have "low constration span" have been able to sit and watch a fire, or drawn to play/poke it
2. Often people are more open, to share or be themselves. It is quite common to have deep conversations, or singing songs and also sit together without saying a word, around a fire.

This is what our lives and communities should portray. The fire of the Holy Spirit in our lives and our communities sould be captivating to the people around us, people should be drawn to us. And it should also allow people to be themselves. Also we are the ones to set the example of being open, and just being ourselves. There should be no need to pretend to be something we're not, or do things just to gain acceptance, or feel important. For God loves us all equally and sees us all as important. Therefore that is how we should see and treat each other. I know it is a challenge at times, but that is what we're called to do and it is possible with Christ's help


Lux

I missed the Australian night sky

I got back from Vancouver just over two weeks ago... And tonight is the first night I have been outside a city when it hasn't been cloudy and I can see all the stars..... While I was in Vancouver I missed seeing the stars, cause in Adelaide you can even look up at night and see a number of stars. I love to look up at the stars and star gaze. I marvel at God's creation. And they also remind me of how majestic God is and how big He is. For God is bigger than the universe, and holds everything in His hands. Also when I look up at the stars, no matter how I have felt that day or week, I have a joy and peace from God come over me. And it also gives me a sense of security and reassures me that God is here with me and everything is in His hands.

Lux

Beauty

Today I was heading back to Adelaide with two friends. They were doing the driving so I got to sit back and relax. As our journey continued I got to watch the sunset, and it just reminded me of God's beauty, and that His creation is beautiful, which includes us. God has created us and calls us beautiful. However we don't always receive that truth into our own lives, that alone speak it into another person's life, because we have been hurt and discouraged which often leave us with scars. And God isn't content with leaving us like that, He wants to bring healing into our lives, a healing that is complete, so that even the smallest scar is healed leaving no trace, except the lessons God taught us through them and through the healing He has done. Then when the healing is completed we are more beautiful than before, and more like Christ..

Peace
Lux

live up to what you have attained.

This is what i heard while in Vancouver, and there i was like, yeah i want to, i want to live up to what God has already given to me, and what He has already called me to. I was activitly focused on this and learning more of how to do that. Majority of what i was doing over in Vancouver required me to live up to what God called me.
Now i am back in Adelaide, and back working 4 days a week, it is a lot harder to live up to what i have been called to, cause it is so easy to get dragged down by the normal life. Of working, friendships, and the routine of things. And more distractions, like easy access to tv, and internet.
So i find here i have to be more intentional on being focused,
Being More focused on Jesus,
More focused on who He sees me as and what He has called me to.
I know the plans God has for me, what He has called me to, is massive, things that i am not sure how to do, things i am not confident in, things that i even get a little scared and nervous about when i think about them properly. How ever God's promise is that He is with me, that He will never leave or forsake me. For that i am so thankfull, cause it is only with Christ that i am able to walk in what i have attained, and what He has called me to. And i have to always remember that i need Him so much, that will help me to remain focus on Him, to hear Him and to follow His commands.
Then when we live up to what God has already given us, He will give us more.


Lux

God speaks in different ways.

Over the last couple of months, i have been realising and experiencing that God talks to us in a number of different ways. God has talked to me and shown me things through books that i have been reading, through the words of a friend, whether they were words of encouragement, a picture they had recieved for me, or while they are praying for me. Also God has given me pictures, and words through my own thoughts, and then also spoken to me, through my feelings... like I would be praying for someone, and God will give me a feeling of sadness, or excitment. This is the one that i sometimes find it harder to act out upon, cause i am still learning to listen to God in this way.... and i sometimes wonder if it was just my feelings, and not God trying to show or tell me something..... A couple of times i haven't spoken out what i was feeling and then later i was wishing i did, cause i realised that they were from God. So i am relying on God to teach me to know whether to share what i feel. and also to help me to keep my eyes and ears open, so that i will see, hear and reckonise when God speaks to me in different ways.

g'day all

Well it has been over a month since i last blogged....
Not that i haven't had anything to blog, it was more i got busy helping out around the place, and also hanging out, that i didn't spend heaps of time on the computer.
I am now back in Australia, i had an awesome time in Vancouver. I met a number of awesome people, from last years War College Session (Revolution) and i got to be there for their grad. I also go to meet all the Students of this year's Incendiary session of the War College, which was awesome..... I see in them a hunger to learn, to learn things of God, and to walk with Jesus deeper..... The group is small, but i see them as strong in the Lord and Strong together. That they are going to be a tight supportive group.... and the Lord will give them strength through that. i got to hang out with them for less then a week, however i can see God's hand on them, and He's going to be doing great work in their lives, and through each one of them...
I can't wait to see/hear about the changes adn the direction in which God leads them.
Keep them in your prayers. Both last years session as they move on from War College, and this year's session.
I will blog more now that i am back.
and there might be a few blogs of revelations and my experiences of while i was in Vancouver, over the next little while. That's all for now.
Blessings

Promises from God

The other day when i was in the war room, i was prompted to make a cubby house, so after a short debate, thinking that it was silly, i am 28 years old, I gave in and made a cubby.
It was so much fun, while making it i was filled with enthusiasm and energy, i felt like a little kid, and was reminded that we are His little kids, and of how much God enjoys our lives.
After i had made the cubby, i crawled into it, and laid there and prayed... It was so nice and cosy, and if someone came in noone would really know that i was there. As i was in there, God was showing me and reminding me of His promises. That He is our shelter, or Refuge, Strong tower, and that He hides us under his wings, and that His banner over me is Love.
It was awesome experience, and i wanted to share with you the reminder that i had....
blessings

God is at work.

Well it has been bit over 2 weeks since arriving in the dtes of Vancouver, it seems longer tho.. things are going well. I keep running into people that I met last year and a large portion of them remember me, it's a real blessing. to know that God touch them with' His love thro me. And I see a change in the lives of some these people, for the better, God is at work in their lives. which is awesome.
Also. last time I blogged I was talking about a guy who fell down the stairwell of. my hotel. well I heard today that he has already left the hospital. PTL
any way it's time for me to get some sleep.
God bless
Lux

PTL

hey, oVerall it's been a a good week for me in the DTES.
the battle school girls are cool. they have 'just jumped into Whatever they have been 'told/asked to do.
i'v also had a chance to hangout with with a couple, of War College (both past and present) which has been cool
One thing that happened this week which was'nt good, is that on Tuesday night. someone fell from". 5th floor to the 1st floor, he had severe head injuries,
and was takin to the hospital. hoWever I heard yesterday that this guy is doing well and that he is already WalKing around. PTL
BLESSINGS
LUX

waiting

lately in my rations God has bee:n talking to me about waiting on hiM.
that i need to wait on Him more. But more So, that He wants me to wait upon Him. which I have been struggling with a little bit.
it is something i want to do more- Of, and pray you do too.
God bless .

Well i have been in the Vancouver's DTES for 3 days now, well technically 2 days (cause yesterday i visited the teen camp at sunrise camp site)... As i have been walking around i have seen people that i have met last year (not the war college students, but other people whether they are street guys, or from harbour light)... some of them don't remember who i am at all, but then there are others that remember, not my name, but that they have met me and where they have met me.... it is such an awesome experience, however also a privilege. Cause these people thought that it was worth while remembering me.... And i must of had an impact on them to remember me, well i was only in Vancouver for 7 weeks last year, so any of the impact that happened would of had to be the working of Christ....
One of the Battle Schoolers for this year, said that they have heard about me from their friend that was here last year, and she was told that she would like me.... it was awesome to hear that one of the youth last year thought that highly of me that they would tell their friend about me... But again, if it was just me, there wouldn't of been an impact... it is only because of Christ that the impact was made.
Also since being back in Vancouver, i heard a report about one of the battle school youth from last year.... Jonathan know some of this person's relatives that live on the other side of the country, these relatives said that this person had changed heaps since battle school...
It is awesome that God allows me to be a part of His plans to impact the youth that come along....and i am also amazed about it as well.. ... And i Thank Him heaps for that opportunity.
Anyway, it is time that i should get some sleep.
God bless

Lux


*For your information Habour light is where we eat...

my Journey to Vancouver

Well my Journey to Vancouver has been very interesting so far....
I flew out of Adelaide last night to Brisbane, the flight was good.... Once i got to Brisbane, i made my way to the international airport, where i spent the night sleeping on a couch there....
This morning i flew out of Brisbane... fairly tired, due to not much sleep the last few nights....
I got to watch 3 movies.... Amazing Grace, Firehouse dog and wild hogs.... it was good....
However during the flight, about an hour out from Taipie, i was sick.... it was heaps bad, i have never been sick on a plane before, i think a large part of me being sick was the lack of sleep. Any way i made it to Taipei, and out to the motel that i am staying at, which was complementry otherwise i probably would of stayed another night in an airport..
On the drive to the motel, we went pass a lot of buildings, that were in slum like conditions... and then we arrived at where i was staying and it was this huge mansion Golf Restort... definately not anything that i would usually stay in. And it was a in your face reminder of how different the world is.... there are people that have money and those who don't. One thing that was amazing that a night in this place cost someone about $30 Aus to stay there.... which makes you think how much to the people working here get paid.... and something more amazing is it cost more to play around of golf then what it cost to stay here.... it is $100 Aus to play a round of golf....
It is a real reality check.... and a good opportunity to discuss stuff along these lines with other people staying at the motel....
Anyway should go... and get some sleep.... cause i continue to Vancouver tomorrow.... i will actually arrive there 1/2 hour before i left here.... tiem wise anyway...
God bless.
Lux

preparing for travel.....

well, it is 5 days until i leave winter in adelaide.... and head to Vancouver... i can't wait til i get there...
Lately i have spent a bit of time thinking about what i need to take with me... and how much room i need to pack everything..... usually i take as little as possible.... however... i am taking some extra stuff over there and i am not 100% sure how much room it is going to take up.... with the fact that i have to be packed on sunday night (which is about 20hours before i leave, this is cause i may end up working on Mon before i leave), is making me think more about what i am taking... what is necessary and what is not...
hhmmm, this hasn't been the most interesting blog, but it is what is on my mind.... so i thought i would share what i have been thinking about of late.

God our healer

God is our healer.... from past hurts- emotional/psychological (like what i shared in my last blog... He reveals so that it can be dealt with and healed), and also physically...
This week, i have heard at least 3 different physical healings by God... and they are all people that i know.... a couple of them happened a couple of weeks ago, however i was only told this week... and these 2 things happened in the same family.... a mother of a work mate was healed of cancer.... and that work mate was healed of something else, someone had a word of knowledge for her and then prayed and she was healed... Praise the Lord... This mate is the same mate who patched me up after i stacked my bike.... and she agreed with the prayers that others had prayed over me for healing the night before....
My mate wanted to tell me, to praise God...
This mate is awesome and beautiful... she is middle age... young at heart.... and God's love just shines out of her, and you see Christ love in her eyes.... and also His joy... i'm going to miss seeing her while i am in Vancouver... even though i don't get to see her every week anyway...
Lord i thank you for your healing work that you do in people whether it is physical, emotional, psychological.... you are able to heal everything, cause you are the creator and designer... Lord thankyou also for friends that are strong in you and have a strong relationship with you...

How our past can affect our Present

Ok, it has been a little while since i lasted blogged.....
However i haven't been able to think of anything to blog about and i have had a busy week, with work, Gen1 and catching up with people.
Last Friday one of my workmates had her last day of work at my workplace..... She was a lot of fun to work with... I only usually work one day a week(Wednesday) with her, it is always fun.... Today was the first shift that i didn't work with her.... And it wasn't the same... it wasn't as much fun...
Also today, I learnt how much hurts from the past affect our lives in the Now..... even subconsciously.....
You see, my parents separated when i was in primary school.... and i realised today that it still affects me subconsciously.....
Let me explain... I was at work today i was finding myself getting annoyed at and judging the person that was working instead of my friend. I caught myself a lot, and consciously decide not to do this, and rejected the thoughts.... I asked Jesus to show me how He sees this person.... and i also asked why am i like this towards this person.... I realised after that, that he is fairly similar to what i remember my dad being like.... for example... he seemed low in self esteem and confidence... slow in speech.... So subconsciously i was responding to this person how i used to and sometimes still respond to my dad....after i had realised that it was easier to see the person for who they are and not through clouded glasses....
so obviously there is still some work to be done on that area of my life... and i ask Christ to continue that work...

Beauty

True beauty is not seen on the outside, but it shines out from the inside...
Lately i have sort of been learning this more.
I have been also learning that Our beauty is developed when we gaze on Christ, and let Him show us who we are, and how He sees us. Also when we gaze on Christ our ability to love unconditionally (even if we are not loved back), and to be loved increases.

Lux

Weddings

I had the privilege to attend a mate's wedding today, it was a great wedding, slightly different from other weddings that i have been to, the main difference is that one of the groomsman was also the Celebrant. This was interesting, it ran well and the whole service was awesome
It was really cool seeing their love for each other, not only that but also their love for God, and how their love for God shined through out the service and the day. They made promises to keep God the foundation of their marriage and also 100% devoted to Christ and let Christ guide them.
I can share a good illustration from the wedding about our relationship with Christ. When my mate was walking down the aisle her eyes were on her to be husband and wouldn't take her eyes off him, and wasn't distracted by everyone around her, she knew her goal and the guy she loves, and just had eyes for him. You see that is how we should be with our relationship with Christ... Our eyes should be on Him, and Christ being our only focus. That we have eyes only for Christ, so that we are not distracted by the things around us, things of this world, or even good things/opportunities that come our way that just may not be the plan that God has for us.

Homework

Today i have been given some homework.... basically challenged to do a timeline of my life... however this is not the normal timeline of life events.... it is a timeline of my spiritual life.... marking in when i have had new revealations of God, Experienced God etc....
This is a challenge (for me anyway) just in trying to remember the different times, I have started it.... however i am a long way off finishing it....
But the reflecting is doing me good.... it is showing/reminding me what Christ has done in my life and what He has taught me....
It may take me some time to finish... however i am looking forward to seeing the whole picture... of what Christ has done and is doing in my life....
Pray for me as i do this that God will remind me of the different things that He has shown and taught me...
God Bless
Lux

True Strength

True strength is not how strong you are physical, it is about love, compassion. i have been learning this more and more over the past years... And God reminded me last night of this when i was watching heros, it was mentioned

A guy is talking with Pete and says "you needed to hear the truth .... your heart has the ability to love unconditionally.... in the end all that really matters is love".

It is Christ that enables us to love in this way, to have unconditional love for everyone.... Cause He has unconditional love for us....

I pray that Christ's unconditional love will shine through me more and more....
I also pray this for you.....

Lux

Proverbs again ....

Another awesome passage that hit home was from Proverbs 5:23-27, it says


"Above all else, guard your heart, for it affects everything you do. Avoid perverse talk; stay far from corrupt speech. Look straight ahead, and fix your eyes on what lies before you. Mark out a straight path for your feet; then stick to the path and stay safe. Don't get sidetracked; keep your feet from following evil"



How true ...

proverbs...

Sorry, i haven't blogged for a while.... i have been busy, mainly working and doing things at Gen1.. And also i didn't really have anything to blog about...
Anyway, lately i have been reading Proverbs... it is a good book, there is so much wisdom/good advice in it... i have noticed that it talks a lot about the wise and the fool... and sort of compares them.... it also gives 7 things that the Lord hates....
these are (proverbs 6:16-19)

1. Haughty (or lustful) eyes.
2. A lying tongue
3. Hands that kill the innocent
4. a heart that plosts evil
5. feet that race to do wrong
6. a false witness who pours out lies
7. a person who sows discord among others.

Now i am not sure about you, but for me some of these are easier not to do then others.... Like my hands have never killed the innocent...

But how many of us lie for a joke.... like someone asking us to do something and we say no, knowing that we will do it, or you play a prank on someone, and they ask if it was you, and you say no... or even when we do something nice for someone, and don't want them to know that it was us... and we lie to say that it wasn't.... i know i have been challenged. What about you.....

late for work

in an attempt to get a little more sleep, and not wanting to get up, i reset my alarm (which originally went off at 6.30am), to 7am. The thing is i either didn't hear the alarm go off again or i turned it off while i was sleeping....
I woke up at 9am .... I am meant to be at work at 9am ... Needless to say i got up and got dressed and ran out the door ... i ended up being about 20mins late to work ... I praise God that my co worker for the day didn't care .... I praise God that we had to wait a bit once i got to work, to find out whether one of the guys we usually take out, was coming out or not - this meant, that even if i was on time we would have had to wait before we could start work.... I praise God for a relaxful morning at the movies (with work), cause the afternoon was just a full on rush ....
Praise God that we had new people at cell....
Praise God that no one was injured from a car accident that happen out side our place after cell, and the opportunity to chat with the people involved and show God's love, by helping out where we could....
anyway i need to go to bed now..... so that i don't sleep through my alarm again, and end up late for work again....
God bless you all
Lux

Red Sheild Appeal.

The Red Sheild Appeal..... I love it...
whether it be standing at the shops collecting or door knocking .... I love it.

This year i have only door knocked. However i had an awesome time....
I'll tell you why i love doing the door knock for the red sheild.
You see the Red Sheild door knock gives you an opportunity to prayer walk the streets, to walk around the streets praising God and also you have opportunity to share God's love with people, if you are looking for the opportunity.

I want to tell you a story from my collecting experiences this weekend sharing how God used me to touch someone's life, and as an answer to prayer....
Well i was door knocking in my first block for the day, and at this particular house they had a screen door that you couldn't see through from the outside. I explained who i was to the lady who answered the door, and asked if she would like to give a donation. The lady said that she wasn't able to give, that she was a pensioner in a wheelchair. i felt prompted to ask her if there was any thing she wanted me to pray for, and she said yes, so she unlocked the screen door and i prayed with her...she was in tears. Then i had another prompting from the Holy Spirit to ask if there was anything else that i could do to help. Her response after a few minutes of quietness, was that she asked if i could pour coffee that she had made and heated in a saucepan on the stove, into a thermos so that it would stay warm and also so that she could pour it properly when she wanted some... Her hands were too shaky to do this her self...
Afterwards, she shared that part of the reason she was in tears when i knocked on the door was because she couldn't put the coffee into the thermos.... and that the timing of me coming was like that of an angel - So i praise God for using me and allowing me to have the privledge of taking part in His work..
She also said that she had been praying for an angel, someone to help here a little around the place, and also to take her for a walk...
So next time you have to knock on doors for the Red sheild appeal, or standing collecting somewhere, be open to the promptings of the Spirit and be obedient, see where God will lead you.

Lux

We are in a battle

More and more lately, i have been realising that we are in a battle, that there are skirmishes breaking out all over the place... This isn't a physical battle, it is a spiritual battle. Our enemy is satan and his followers... However if we are have a relationship with Jesus, we are on the winning side, PTL.
And a part of this skirmishes are because, spirit filled soldiers are sneaking into the enemies camp, on re-con orders from Christ. This orders are to go into the enemies camp and rescue people that the enemy has captured. These soldiers go in with Christ, and in Christ's authority and power.
The captives are people not in a relationship with Christ, however not only them, but also some of the church.... now the enemy tries to and sometimes succeeds in blinding the church, with tiredness, sleep and anything else that stops/holds us back from seeing God's plan, or that will blind us....
i think that is all for now....
bless ya
Lux

We all have a purpose

G'day, sorry i haven't blogged for a while, i have been slack in this area lately.
Well what i would like to blogg today is that we all have a purpose, a God given desire and destiny. Some times this can be mind blowing, cause what God's plan for us sometimes sees us being and going out side our expetise/comfort zone, and in areas that we never saw our selves.
However, the thing with this is that we are weak in those areas, whether that be in knowledge, strength, or any other area. But it is in our weakness Christ can fully work. .... Cause it is then that we really need to rely on Christ to work through us, we don't do any thing off our own back, by ourselves.
Now for me this is sometimes hard, i have grown up doing the things that "i" can do, that i have a talent in, which is all good, but i fall into the risk of "doing things myself" and not relying or waiting to see/hear what Christ wants to do. However i know that when i am asked to do something that i think i am uncapable of doing, i tend to rely and wait on God more, i want to hear what He wants, cause His ideas are so much better then ours.
I am learning more and more that it is heaps more efficient if i wait to see/hear what God wants first, before i just jump in and do things. I have to be willing to step out of my comfort zone, willing to go to places that i thought i would never be, and follow Christ, cause it is in these times that good habits of coming to Christ and seeing what He wants done is developed, so that in the future, when we are back doing the things that we feel comfortable with, we will still come to Christ and ask Him what He wants done, and not rely on ourselves.

So i pray that I will become more and more dependant on Him, and that I will hear His voice and see things through His eyes, and see His plans more and more. Also that i will be come more and more willing to leave what ever He wants and go where ever He wants, and do what ever He wants me to do.

God bless.

Lux

movie

last night i watched a movie called "human trafficking". This is a really powerful movie, it does a good job to bring awareness to the problem of human trafficking, and the different ways that people are lerwd into it. It also shows what they go through, and the fear tatics that the traffickers use to keep the girls working. This films finishes with a good outcome for the girls trapped, and with justice, for the traffickers are either killed or are arrested, however this isn't the case for most people that have been caught up in this industry.
I would advise watching it, how ever be warned it isn't for the faint hearted, it may leave you in tears,
Here a link to info on the movie http://www.lifetimetv.com/movies/originals/humantrafficking.html

Lux

The Greatest Power on the Earth

This is a chapter of a book that i am reading at the moment, I have only read one chapter of it (if that, but what i have read has been good). I would like to share with you a couple of paragraphs from the beginning of the book.

There is more power in a single Christian than in all of the armies on the face
of the earth. This truth will become known throughout the earth before the end
of this age. God dwells in His people and when His people come to know this as
living truth rather than doctrine, the world will then know this truth also. The
emerging generation has been has been infected with a desire for the
supernatural. The most popular books, movies and television shows almost all
deal with supernatural powers. Most of these are attempts to attract people to
sorcery and other forms of evil, but the Lord is going to use this for His own
purpose.

So when you watch movies and tv shows, or read books that have themes of supernatural power, allow them to ignite in you a passion to see God's power fully at work on this earth through His followers. For God is able to do so much more than what the writers of these books, movies and shows can ever think of. Rick Joiner agrees, he writes, later in his book

...The power He has already given to His church is much greater than anything
Satan can duplicate with his counterfeits. When the church awakens to the power
that the Lord has given to her, even the wildest imaginations in Hollywood will
not be able to compete with the reality that God's people are going to
experience. Just as the multitudes flocked to Jesus, the multitudes are going to
come to the church which walks in what God has given to her, giving the people
true bread from heaven.

So Yeah, lets be a people longing to see God's full power explayed on the earth, let's be willing for God to work His power through us. Let's pray for it, not that we would get the reckonition but that God's glory would be revealed upon the earth, that His Kingdom comes, that His will be done here on earth as it is in Heaven. And That People will see the Glory of Christ and be saved. Amen Lux

Praise the Lord for Rain

Praise the Lord for Rain, i love it.
From Wednesday 25th April to Monday 30th April, Adelaide has had 71mm of rain, which makes this pass April the wettest since 2000 when they had 88mm for the entire month, not just over 4 days. Because of this rain, our reservoirs, (dams) are 2% higher then what they were last week.
This rain has also meant that farmers have been able to sow their winter crop

This rain is from God, it didn't rain too heavy or to lightly it was just the right amount consistently. Let me explain. Because most of Australia has been in drought, all the ground had become really hard and dry, so if the rainfall was heavy, it would just run off the ground with out the soil absorbing it, it would of also washed away the precious top soil that the farmers need to plant their crops in. The rain fall at exactly the right rate so that it would be absorbed and still have a descent rainfall. It has been a few years that i have seen consistent rainfall for 3 to 4 days, (well it broke for a few hours each day).
I was talking with some friends and we realised there would be kids around in Australia that haven't seen that much rain before.

So i just Praise God for the rain, and say bring on more, please, (in fact it has rained a bit tonight already, that is what prompted me to make this blog).

Anyway i pray that God will send His rain, physical rain to the places that need it, but a spiritual rain everywhere.

Lux

Eragon

Can i just say first of all, that i really really like this movie.

Now there is a couple of reasons for why i enjoy this movie a lot.
The most simple reason is just because it is a good movie, and is made really well.
Then the other reason is that there are so many good quotes about life, and some really good analogies for living with Christ.

For Example, when Eragon and Serphia are completely one, they can see as one and Eragon can fight from anywhere on Serphia, even on her tail. Which relates well to our life in Christ, when we are in a full relationship with Christ we will have Christ's eyes, we will see how He sees, we will see people through His eyes.

Also at one point when Eragon wants to go save someone by Himself, Serphia says that "our strength is strongest when we are together" and Eragon responds by saying that he has to do it Himself and that they truly can't be one til he is as strong as Serphia. Can you see the resemblance to the our relationship with Christ, how often do we say to Christ that we have do to this our selves. Where as we will grow more, and have more strength when we do things with Christ and allow Him to work through us. Too often we buy in to the lie that the enemy feeds us, saying that we can't fully be with Christ until we have sorted ourselves out. But the truth is in Christ we have strength, even when we don't have all our crap sorted out. It is awesome, God wants to work through us even when we still have crap to deal with, however God doesn't want to leave us in that crap, He wants to help us through it, He wants to heal us, and make us into what He originally designed us to be.

Another good quote in the movie was - a leader is chosen because of his heart.

there was a number of other things, that was really good from the movie, however i don't really have time to share more, it is time for me to go to work.

God bless

Lux

Combat training

Well, combat training is now over. We spent a week sleeping in the basement of ACH, in fact we pretty much lived in the basement, the only time we came out was when we went and did stuffin the community, or for toilet, showers and cooking.
It was an interesting week, we learnt a lot over the week.
It was a great week and worth while, worth all the hard work that went in to it.
There were attacks from the enemy before and during the week, but Praise the Lord, He is good. Everyone that went learnt stuff from God through the teachers, and grew.

We were challenged to live lives full of Holiness, and also learnt that our holiness effects all of our minstry. It affects our effectiveness in how we do Warfare, our leadership, and our ability to hear from God.

We learnt that leadership in the "church" is not just being the cell group leader, worship leader, or preacher, but also apostles, teachers, prophets, pastors, and evangelist, and not every one is created to lead. To be a good leader we need to learn about God and about us, to know our strengths and how God has created us to work, cause we all reflect different aspects of God. Therefore in getting to know ourselves more, we will get to know God more and vice versa.

One of the that was annoying was that the alarm normally turned on by the security at 11pm and it was suppose to be organised with the security company that the alarm, would not be set each night, cause we were staying at the Hall. However each night the alarm was set by the security company, so the first couple of nights the alarm went off, and i had to run up the stairs and turn it off. After a couple of nights of the security company saying that they would not set the alarm, and then it still went off, i sat right next to the alarm for about 5mins before it set, so i could turn it off straight away, so that it wouldn't go off.

However it was go great week, and we will do another one sometime, (still have to work out the dates for the next one).

I may share more at a later date, don't guarantee though

Any way i must go,

God bless you all.

Lux

favour from God

Some people have been blessed by God with favour.
Ok let me explain, with combat training we gave them a sheet of paper with different things that they can do to challenge them to step out in faith, to step out of their comfort zones. One of the things on their list was to take a paper clip and swap it with someone for something of more value and to keep doing this with the items that they get. Then with the last item, we will auction it off and give the money to something like Operation 58, which raising money to build a children's home overseas (in short anyway).
So this morning i went with one of the people doing combat training to do this, and we walked into one of the shopping centres in the city and went into this book shop to ask if they would swap anything for this paper clip (well the person with me asked, SB). The lady at the counter said that we could choose a book from a certain table, well, we ended up swapping the paper clip for a book worth $9. We than went to JR surf, and SB asked them what they would swap for a paper clip, and the guy gave us 2 sets of bracelets that were marked down to $10 from $20. So from swapping 2 paper clips, we have a book worth $9 (which was marked down), and 2 Bracelets which together are worth $20 (marked down, $40 otherwise). How ever that was not the end of it. We went into another shop and asked them what they would swap us for the book, and we came out with 2 cushions that had been marked down, but the original price would of been $10 to $20 dollars each. So in the space of 30mins we ended up with 2 cushions worth $10 - $20 each, and 2 bangle sets worth $20 each. Praise the Lord for this blessing on SB, and she was saying on the way back "you don't know how easy that is for me". I praise God for people like SB, who God's favour rest upon, and things are acquired from the world for the Lord.
I'll let you know what we end up with from everyone doing the combat training challenge at combat training.
Praise the Lord,

Lux

Combat training end of day 2

G'day, well we have finished the second day of combat training, the schedule has already been changed a little so that the ppl that come can get the most out of it as possible. All participants are taking up the challenges like doing a 2 to 5 am prayer room shift, a combat training challenge, which they were given the low down of it today, and they were all keen to do it. And if fact started some of the challenges.
Last night, well techniqually this morning i had a shift in the prayer room, and it was awesome, i had been tired all week, how ever i got a bit tired, but i didn't fall asleep, Praise God. That is not why it was an awesome shift tho. I started my shift praying about combat training and changes to the program that i had to make, and that didn't take me very long, PTL, I was a bit tired after that so i spent sometime relaxing in the Lord, and it seemed like ages, however it was only like 5 - 10 mins, it was really cool. I also worshipped, prayed and listen. The whole shift the word Freedom kept coming up, and i had a sense that Christ wants to see us fully free (which isn't new), but it was a sense that He wants to see us free in worship, and free from lots of different things. however we have opposition, the enemy doesn't want to see us free, cause he knows how dangerous we can be in Christ (we'll more Christ through us), and he doesn't want that to happen, cause he knows that he'll lose more ground. That was the simplified version.
Then tonight at the church service at ACH (adelaide congress hall), i had heaps of fun worshipping, it was great.
Anyway i should go, and get back to doing stuff, then going to bed, (i get to sleep all of tonight, Yay. I can't wait, i am a bit tired). :)
God bless,
Lux

just so that you know

Just so that you know, the next week or so, i may not blog. This is because Combat Training starts in like an hour, and i am in charge, and i won't have much of a chance to get on the net.
I thought i would let you know, so that you didn't think i was just being slack.

Any way i should go,
God bless

Lux

Praise The Lord

Late last night, i was thinking about my day, and i realised that i had a lot to thank God for yesterday.
I rode to and from work and on the way home a car came close to hitting me, Praise the Lord that He was protecting me.
Praise the Lord that my arm has healed quickly, it is nearly back to normal, nearly all the scab has gone, and i have full movement again.
I was driving to work last night (to my second job), and someone was speeding and cutting through the traffic, and went very close to hitting me, but he didn't. Praise the Lord for His protection again.
Praise the Lord, that one of my work mates confides in me, i am like half her age.
Praise the Lord, that He provides, i have had work mates buying me some food the last couple of days, and i didn't ask them to.
Praise the Lord, that my other work mate yesterday, didn't seriously injury himself when he hit his head on the van's back door when he was closing the back door.

That's all i have time to write, cause now i have to go to work.

God bless you
Lux

do something

firstly, for those that are interested in knowing how my injuries from stacking my bike are going, they are healing nicely. My shoulder is still not 100% but i can lift my arm up to shoulder hieght, which is an improvement since Saturday. My house mates think that i should post the photos of my injuries on this blog, so that you can see them. So if you want to see what damage i did to my self when i stacked it let me know and i will post the photos, that one of my house mates took of it.

Any way, today i went to a senior first aid refresher course and a few things have changed since the last time that i did one (3 years ago). On thing that has changed is how we are to do CPR, you know the whole some one is unconcious and not breathing and has no pulse, then you have to do compressions and give them breath. Well in Australia the process for this used to be a bit confusing, cause there was different rates for different people, and it also depended on if there was one or two people giving CPR. So they have made it simpler, basically all we have to do is remember is if they are not breathing, we give them 2 breaths, and then 30 compressions. which is a lot easier to remember in emergencies, which is the whole point. The reason they changed it, was that people were getting stressed out if they had to perform CPR so much that they would do nothing, so they made it simipler so that people wouldn't stress about it, and then they would actually do it. You see they realised, that it is better for some one to do something, then do nothing.
How often do we think that we should do something about the injustices in the world, but we don't know what to do, or how to do it, so we do nothing. It is better doing something then nothing applies to this as well. Even if it is just signing the different declarations online, or telling your friends about the injustices that are going on around in your own community and around the world.
Also sometimes we as christians just start cruising along, and not doing much to develope their relationship with God, or get to a stage of not knowing what the next step is to have a deeper relationship with Christ If we are not disiplined in seeking after God, we get to a stage where we do nothing, our relationship then suffers. We can apply the same principle here, doing something is better than doing nothing. I have heard it said, it is easier to find which direction to go so that your following Christ, if you are infact moving. Cause Christ can turn you one way or another, and if you are moving you will see the results of that, you will see the direction. However if you are not doing any thing, standing still, it is hard to see where Christ turns you. Cause He can turn you, but you are still in the same place, and you don't noticed that Christ has pointed you in a direction. So i would encourage you to do something to develope your relationship with Christ, whether it be just Reading the Bible more, spending more time just to focus on Christ, whatever it is, if we do something Christ can direct us.

Hope that all made sense, it is a little late here, so i am going to bed now so that i will actually get up in the morning and get to work on time.

God bless

Lux

More lessons learnt from being injured

ok, a couple of days ago, i blogged that i stacked my bike. Well, my shoulder is still sore, however i have learnt some more lessons because of my injury (it is only a graze/burn on my shoulder)

1. The bible says that when on part of the body suffers the whole body suffers along with it (1 Corth 12:26). Though my shoulder is the only part of me that is injured, (well only part that is still hurting). I have been learning this in a very physical way. Cause in order to do some stuff, i have to do them in a different way, (i can't reach my right arm highier than my shoulder) some of my other muscles have been hurting, like my stomache and chest muscles. Also when i try to do somethings normally it hurts my shoulder, even though i am not using my shoulder. Like if i go for a run, it hurts my shoulder, therefore i haven't ran, mind you i dont run that often anyway, only when playing some sort of sport, or when i am mucking around. So having this graze on my shoulder has affected the way i do many things, or even if i do some stuff, which therefore affects other muscles and parts of my body. It is a great illistration of when one part of the body of Christ suffers, we all feel it. Another illustration of this is still with my shoulder, however it involves my fellow Gen1 members. They see the wound and they cringe, cause they can either feel the pain or imagine how much it hurts. So me being injured affects the others around me.
2. Our pain affects how and sometimes our capability to worship God. You see i went to Revolution last night, and i was limited in what i could do to worship God, i wanted to lift my hands, but it hurt, i wanted to jump and dance around, but it hurt. It made me realise that our hurts from the past, the pain that it leaves in us, limits our relationship with God. God wants to bring us healing from these hurts of our life, so that we are free, and unrestricted in our relationship with Him, and free to worship and be unrestricted in our worship of God.

So they are a few lessons, i pray they are thought provoking to you, and that you can learn from my physical pain.

Lux

Fearless (the movie)

Today at work i watched the movie fearless. It was the second time that i have seen the movie, but i still enjoyed it.
The main things that stood out to me through out the movie, were

1. The way a person can once they realise that revenge doesn't fix anything,
2. Integrity, the scene that fully impacted this was one of the last scenes when, the guy Jet Li plays is fighting the guy from Japan (i am not good at remembering the names). Jet Li's character has just been poisoned by someone, however he still fought on, and then makes a punch that would of seriously injured the guy from Japan, if connected. However he stops short of the impact. At that moment the guy from Japan realised, he would of lost, and been really hurt if Jet Li made contact, and acknowledged the hit. At that point Jet Li collapses cause of the poisoning. The judge was about to acknowledged the guy from Japan as the winner, and he says wait. He then helped Jet Li up and announced Jet as the winner. You see no one else besides the two fighters knew who the real winner was, the guy from Japan could of remained silent and received the win, cause Jet Li was about to die, who would know. He would of. In his heart the guy from Japan knew he lost. That is integrity, it was only himself that stopped the guy from japan, claiming the victory that wasn't his, cause no one else knew.

what is your integrity like, what would of you done?

Lux

Lessons from bike stack

Yesterday, i stacked my bike, on asphalt. (Yeah it did hurt).
From reflecting on how i stacked it i had a reminder of a few life lessons.

1. Don't become over confident, thinking you are better than what you are. Or you will crash.

2. It is so easy to fall into self pity, all the way home i just wanted someone to ask me if i was ok, but it didn't happen, i continue to ride for another 40mins, and no one asked if i was ok. I realised part way home, that i was so focused on my self and being sorry for my self. I also realised, that other people are worse off than me.

3. That i don't like being hurt, and showing that i hurt. Cause if someone actually stopped to see if i was ok, while on my way home, i would of said that i was ok. I have grown up, not letting people know when i was hurting, and also denying it at times, it is a bad habit that has continued, sometimes.

4. I like bragging about and showing off my injures. Paul talks about bragging about our weakness, i don't think injures count. (Me and one of my house mates, even took photos of the injures).

So basically i learnt a lot about myself when i stacked my bike.
It was liturallly a painful lesson

Lux

On Friday i watched a part of Narina (the movie). It was the part where the white witch came to Aslan's camp to claim her right to Edmund, as Edmund was a traitor and all traitors belong to her. Aslan and the white witch met together and an agreement was made, that Aslan will die instead of Edmund, (This scene was used to illistrate what Christ has done for us).
However i picked up on something else in that scene. I was when the white witch was announcing her claim on Edmund and Peter stepped forward and said "try to take him". Peter had his sword raised to fight, the whole of Narina was behind him. The white witch however, just said something like do you think you can beat the deep magic, "little king". With those words, 'little king", Peter lowered his sword, looked down, and stepped back.
See this stood out cause it showed me, that this is what the enemy tries to do to us. The enemy feeds us lies, that belittle us, so that we feel like we are nothing and that we are not capable of doing anything. Therefore we lower our swords. We do this even though like Peter we have "Authority and Power", ours comes through Christ, and We are the Children of the King of Kings. We have an army behind us, there are angels just waiting for commands, commands that we can give them.
You see we are a threat to the enemy, however if the enemy makes us think of ourselves as nothing and not capable of anything, he doesn't have to worry about us, we are no longer a threat to him. The enemy wants us to stay in that feeling of being nothing and uncapable, because he is scared of us, when we realise our potiential in Christ.
Have you given in to the enemy's lies about you lately?
Dwell in Christ, in who He says that you are. If you are in a relationship with Christ, You are a co heir with Christ, you're a citizen of Heaven, you are more than a conqueror through Christ, You are a chosen generation, royal priesthood.
These are just a few of the truths about who you are in Christ, and they are all from God's Word,

May God fully reveal to you the truth of who you are in Christ

Lux

Easter Camp

I just got home from a Easter Camp today.
The camp was really good.
Youth repented of stuff the first night, then the following sessions were teaching on Holiness, and giving a challenge to be holy. To live in the World but not a part of it.
The camp was not about hype, it was straight to the point. We need to be holy, not just have said the "sinners prayer", we need full salvation. the work that Christ doesn't finish when we repent, when we have tears of repentance, that is only the beginning. God was to fill us with love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and selfcontrol. Also we need to be accountable to each other, and when we are asked to keep someone accountable, that we are not to be "gentleman" about it, we are not to worry whether they are not going to like us any more. We should be encouraging each other to be holy. We were given permission to be nagging about it.
The whole camp was focused not having "elevator love" (or roller coaster) relationship with God any more, instead have a relationship with Christ that is continually going up/growing, and with out sin. This sort of relationship with Christ is only possible through His power.

There are youth that have left camp, changed, not wanting to have "elevator love" relationship with God, and these youth have called on their friends to keep them accountable.

Praise God, cause this was His Camp and His work.

One more thing to praise the Lord about camp. We had sumo wrestling, a bungi run, and laser skirmish, which are all activites where it is possible for injures. I was the first aid person, and i only had to give out 4 pain killers, and 2 bandaids. Praise the Lord.

Lux

cool quote

I saw this cool quote from Mother Teresa

"If we were humble, nothing would change us - neither praise nor discouragement
If someone were to criticize us, we would not feel discouraged.
If someone would praise us, we also would not feel proud".

catch ya
Lux

people need the Lord

This song was the band message at ACH this morning, I read the words and they brought me to tears, cause the words of this song is so true.

People need the Lord

Everyday they pass me by,
I can see it in their eye.
Empty people filled with care,
Headed who knows where?
On they go through private pain,
Living fear to fear.
Laughter hides their silent cries,
Only Jesus hears.

People need the Lord, people need the Lord.
At the end of broken dreams, He's the open door.
People need the Lord, people need the Lord.
When will we realize -- people need the Lord?

We are called to take His light
To a world where wrong seems right.
What would be too great a cost
For sharing Life with one who's lost?
Through His love our hearts can feel
All the grief they bear.
They must hear the Words of Life
Only we can share.

People need the Lord, people need the Lord
At the end of broken dreams, He's the open door.
People need the Lord, people need the Lord.
When will we realize that we must give our lives,
For people need the Lord.
People need the Lord.


We have the words of hope, we know the Good news, it is our job to tell people, to let the Spirit speak through us. We do not have to worry about what to say, cause the Holy Spirit will give us the words that we need. And we do not have to fear, for we have not been given a spirit of fear, but of power, love and sound mind.
Since we have been given this spirit of power, love and sound mind, shouldn't that spirit drive us to love people, the people around us whoever they are. To share the Good news with them, isn't that love, to share the good news that we have already recieved.

Lux

a powerful message at ACH

I went to ACH (Adelaid Congress Hall) this morning for their Sunday church service and it was good, (admittly i was late and missed some of the songs, but what i was there for was good). Anyway the Preach was on when Jesus went into the temple and tipped the trade tables, and drove the merchants out of the temple, saying that the temple was meant to be a place of prayer, and that they had made it into a den of thiefs, this story is found in Matthew 21:12-17. Before the scripture they had a reading, where it says something like - the temple ... (different persons) has comfortable chairs, people don't like to turn around and talk, it is for tradition, not for the loud music. (original person) The temple is a place for(different people) ... the well off, not for the homeless, the poor, it is good for the kids.
Majority of people in this meeting found this funny, as if they didn't reckonise that that sort of thing goes on in the church, like it was just unbelievable. However it brought me to tears, cause i have seen so much of that sort of stuff going on in the Church, where they are more focused on tradition then on the people in the community. I felt grief, and repented for any part that i had in any of that in the past.
In the sermon, the officer was saying that often we just see Jesus as the mild and meek Jesus. How ever this story shows a different side of Jesus, a side that is full of righteous anger. She proposed the question, which upset Jesus the most, the injustice of the markets where people were being ripped off, or the fact that these markets were in the part of the temple which was the only place that women and foriegners could come and worship, therefore there was no room for them to worship. She suggested it was both of these reasons that Jesus displayed this righteous anger.
Then the next question Which is good for us to ask, is what would Jesus do/say in our church buildings. Would He ask and test out the chairs to see if they are comfortable, or would He ask why have we got these chairs, where are the mattresses for the homeless of the city to come and sleep on in the night. Would He ask why we come in and sing all these happy joyful songs, when last night there was children that went to sleep hungry, abused, frightened.
Then she went further, what would Jesus say about our own lives, would we encounter the mild and meek Jesus or Jesus full of righteous anger if we allowed Him full access to our temples (our lives).
These are all good questions, may be we should stop and reflect and pray about them.

Lux

Joy

Sometime joy is a choice. I got to work today and the worker that i usually work with was sick, so there was a replacement worker. This morning i really didn't want to work with a replacement, cause it usually means that you have to tell them what needed to be done, and i just didn't want to be doing that. However, I rejected the thoughts coming to me like, i really don't want to work with him, blah, blah blah. And decided i wanted to be joyful at work today. i Started singing "the joy of the Lord will come down", and when singing it the Joy of the Lord does come down. there were other parts of day where i started to feel down and then choose JOy instead. Thanks be to Christ who helped me to choose Joy through out the day, and kept bringing that song up in my mind again and again.

Lux

GRRR

Today i have realised that i have been buying into some stuff that the enemy has been feeding me. Ok, let me explain.
Lately at times i have been fully wondering if i am where i am meant to be, where God wants me, (which in itself isn't bad, especially when i know that i am only to be at Gen1 for a season). However i have spent quite a bit of time dwelling on this, and what God wants me to be doing, trying to work it out. As i was worshipping and praying tonight, i was praying about being a watchman in prayer (which i know God has called me to), and asked God what i need to pray for, God brought someone to mind, for me to pray protection over them, protection from attacks of the enemy, cause this person is charge of a few things that are happening over the next couple of weeks, that will have an impact for the kingdom of Jesus Christ. A little bit after i was praying that, i had the revelation that i am in the lead up of organising a training program, which would have an impact on this Generation for Christ. And these thoughts of am i where i am meant to be, are an attack from the enemy, i bought into the lie that i have to work it out, when all i had to do was ask Jesus. These thoughts are stopping me from praying into this program, from asking Jesus what He wants taught, what He wants us to do, and who He wants to use to teach through. This has been making me confused, a little worried/stressed with stuff, and feeling a little down, but mainly confused.
So i repented of listening to the enemy, and started praying into this training program, at the moment it is being called "combat training", and just a peace came over me, peace about where i am at the moment, and with combat training. Praise the LORD
I hate the enemey, he knows that i just want to be where God wants me, and throws that sort of question at me to confuse me, so that i would seek God about that more or spend time trying to work it all out my self than seeking a deeper relationship with Chrsit and about the things i know He wants me to be doing.
I pray for more decernment, so that i reckonise the attacks of the enemy, even when they are wrapped in good stuff, when they first arise, or even before the enemy gets close enough to attack.

Lux

Awesome stuff

Some of you know that last year i went to Vancouver, and ended up helping out at battle school, which is an urban mission experience and training program for teenagers ran by The Salvation Army 614 Vancouver, in the Downtown Eastside. Battle school is ran yearly, the dates this year July 3rd til Aug 10th. But anyway, nowthat i have finished plugging battle schooll, i'll continue with the blog.
The reason for this blog is, i was reading one of the battle schoolers blog, she was sharing about something called "hands and feet". Read about it, i have pasted it below....


I stepped into a room last sunday and was met with an overwhelming movement of God. It came in the form of about 15-20 highschool students-- students looking for a way to serve God IN THEIR OWN COMMUNITY. But, I'm gonna be honest, I don't know how this is going to work. I am crazy busy, and we don't have a single adult who has volenteered to help. But, somehow, I know it's gonna work out. I really believe that God has a plan for this group. It's a big commitment too, we are meeting 3-4 times a week, two of the times are at 7:30AM! I was totally overwhelmed by all the people wanting to get involved when I walked into that first morning meeting. I had woken up that morning, exhausted from helping out at youth group the night before. All I kept thinking was how much I didn't want to go and lead the meeting, how I really didn't have time to take on another thing, and how there probably wouldn't be anyone there anyways. But I was so wrong! I walked in and saw 10 kids there! They were up, and awake, and so excited about practising drimes that I really realised : God's gonna use this in an amazing way!!! I suppose what I am trying to say is this: pray for us! Pray for our ministries, for ideas on what todo for ministries, pray for protection from the weapons of the enemy; descouragement, frustration, and gossip. Pray for the hearts of campbell river, that they would be softened to hear what we are trying to say. We chose a name, one that I think is amazingly fitting, and entirely God sent. We're calling it "Hands and Feet". - http://descendant.lifewithchrist.org/


Praise the Lord for these youth, and their God given vision for "Hands and Feet"

God Bless

Lux